The field of the disclosure relates generally to components, and, more particularly, to components including unit cells sized and arranged to create structures within the components with independent and decoupled structural stiffness and mass density.
Known components and structures are configured to carry loads during operation of the structures. The stiffness and mass density of the structures are coupled such that modifying either the stiffness or mass density of the structure will typically result in a change to the other of the stiffness and the mass density. Using different materials to create varying stiffness and mass density properties creates additional thermal expansion stress and the potential for corrosion increases, which can reduce the expected life of the components and increases the complexity of manufacturing the component and joining the materials within the structure. Accordingly, it is desirable to decouple the stiffness and mass density locally within a structure using a single material within the structure to facilitate creating multifunctional structures with optimized stiffness and mass distribution characteristics for the intended application.